The Renegade
by chickenfreak162656
Summary: "Twelve months and four days. Over a year. That's how long it's been since Deathstroke took Nightwing. All the League, minus Batman, think he's dead." Deathstroke takes Nightwing and over year later a new threat named Renegade turns up. Renegade was ordered to dispose of JL Jr. but what happens when he can't? PLEASE READ AN! chapter 1 is kinda slow but it gets better! Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice, I'm just an over obsessed fan. :D**

**An: I AM NOT ABANDONING MY OTHER STORY! I just have writers block with where to go from now on so Pm me some ideas!**

**Nightwing is 18 at the beginning of this fanfic.**

Chapter one: cake and bullets

**Blüdhaven**

**Thursday 12****th**** January 2014**

**01:00 (1am)**

Nightwing grunted in pain as he pushed off his apartment door he had just closed. It was 1:00am and he had just gotten home from a patrol in Blüdhaven, effectively locking up Joker (who had wandered into his city and started making a mess) and going through an encounter with Deathstroke.

The villain eventually fled, but not before he shot Nightwing's left side with an armour piercing round.

The hero painfully pulled the top half of his uniform off so he could assess the damage. His torso was badly bruised and cut from his earlier fight with Joker and his crowbar and the bullet wound Deathstroke had inflicted was surrounded by dried blood.

The bullet was probably still in the wound but Nightwing didn't care at the moment. He grabbed some bandages and disinfect before he proceeded to clean and dress his torso.

After he was done, Nightwing, now Dick without his mask, collapsed onto his bed and fell asleep.

Nightwing woke an hour later to his com link beeping in his ear. He groaned and placed a hand on his ear, answering with "Nightwing receiving."

_"__Ahah. Hi Nightwing! Um…. Blue, Impulse and I may have kinda…. Set the kitchen on fire… Hehe"_ came Beast Boy's nervous voice through the com.

"You what?" Dick said, sitting up with an inaudible grunt.

_"__It was their idea! They wanted to try and make a massive cake!" _Beast Boy replied quickly.

The ebony hero groaned to himself. "At 3 in the morning?" he sighed with annoyance.

Beast Boy laughed nervously. "_Sleepover's, huh…." _

"I'll be right there." Dick said, putting his mask back on. Beast Boy sighed in relief through his com before hanging up. Nightwing grabbed some painkillers and swallowed them dry as he left his apartment. It was gonna be a long day...

..Ten minutes later...

"Recognised Nightwing B0-1."

"Please tell me you didn't just call him?!" shouted a distressed Impulse to Beast Boy. No one noticed Nightwing's presence as he leaned on the door frame with his arms crossed (lightly) across his chest. He chuckled quietly at the boys antics.

All three boys were in their hero attire cleaning while covered in what appeared to be chocolate cake. Scorch marks covered the floor, walls and ceiling as well as a thick layer of cake.

Jaime was hovering in the air, wiping the ceiling in an attempt to get the burn and cake marks off, Impulse had a cloth in his hand while he yelled at Beast Boy, who had turned into a dog, no doubt so he could lick the cake off the walls.

Beast Boy stiffened when he smelt Nightwing at the doorway.

Well, more accurately, he smelt Nightwing's blood. "'Wing?" he said as he turned back into his normal form. Impulse stopped shouting as he and the other young hero turned to face their leader.

Nightwing ignored the worry in the boy's tone and instead sighed.

"So, why would you think it would be a good idea to make a cake at three in the morning?" he asked the boys with a roll of his eyes, not that they could see with his mask in the way.

Impulse shrugged as he replied "We were bored? And hungry."

Blue snorted. "More like _we_ were bored and _you _were hungry!" Nightwing smirked, not that the now arguing teens noticed.

"Okay guys, enough. Go get the others and clean it up, and yes. You have to wake the others if you want this cleaned in time for breakfast. I have something else I need to take care of." He told the arguing boys as he stepped between the three of them, breaking them apart. They slowly nodded and went to wake the others.

Nightwing sighed as he went to the medical bay and took out some more gauze, some surgical tweezers and some needle and thread. He then proceeded to once again, painfully peel the top half of his uniform off before removing the soiled bandages and looking at the bullet wound on his side. Fresh blood was now covering it and it had started to burn, thanks to the painkillers starting to wear off.

Nightwing grabbed the tweezers and gritted his teeth as he removed the bullet. He placed it on a surgical tray table before picking up some more disinfectant and cleaning the wound one more time. Nightwing then picked up the needle and thread and began stitching the skin together again.

Finally, when he was done, he pulled the top of his uniform back on. He was just putting the excess medical supplies away when he saw movement out the corner of his eye. He scowled and flipped backwards just as Deathstroke lunged through the window.

Connor woke to someone banging on his bedroom door. He looked over at his clock. "4:30am" he read out loud with a moan. The clone growled as he dragged himself out his comfy bed.

"What?" he snapped. Connor was not a morning person.

Impulse laughed nervously as he looked the older hero over. Connor was dressed in only some long pyjama pants with messy and wild hair, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Ha ha…. Nightwing said we should wake you guys up so you can help us" the younger hero said, trying to supress a laugh.

Connor raised an eyebrow. "With what?" he replied, genuinely intrigued as to what the youngest speedster would need help with at this time in the morning?

"Haha… cleaning? Blue, BB and I kinda set the kitchen on fire and may have… kinda made a cake explode…" replied the young hero, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

Connor sighed while rolling his eyes (something Artemis had taught him unintentionally over the years). "Fine. Where's Nightwing? Shouldn't-" the clone was cut off by the sound of something smashing.

Connor had to bring his hands up to his ears because it was so loud with his kryptonion hearing. Both heroes looked at each other before Connor ran past Impulse shouting at him to get the others.

When Connor got to the med bay, he was not expecting what he saw…

Nightwing was flipping backwards over one of the med beds dodging a masked man as he swung his sword at the ebony. The masked man had a half orange, half black mask on with one eye hole in the orange section of his mask.

"I've got to say Nightwing, you look even more exhausted than when I saw you last. If I recall, I shot you with a bullet that doubled as a tracer once it was removed from the body that not even you could detect earlier this evening. Correct?" the mask man said calmly, dodging a med bed that Nightwing kicked.

"What do you want Deathstroke?" snapped Nightwing as he ducked under Deathstroke's oncoming blade, sounding slightly annoyed by the intruder's previous remark. The masked man sighed.

"You know what I want _Renegade_."

The white of Nightwing's mask turned into slits as he glared at the man. Connor felt that if Nightwing had heat-vision, this intruder would be long dead by now. The clone took the opportunity to set his confusion aside and charged at the intruder.

Connor aimed a punch at his head but Deathstroke easily caught his fist and threw the clone at Nightwing. The force caused both heroes to fly into the nearby wall, the latter hero getting the brute of both the throw and the Kryptonion's full body weight.

Connor slammed into the floor while Nightwing was left stuck in the wall. Deathstroke stalked forward, dodging another blow from Connor, who had recovered, and knocked the clone onto his back.

"Be a good boy and stay down." Saying this, Deathstroke reached into his belt, grabbed a small bit of Kryptonite and placed it on the floor next to the clone.

With that out the way, the mercenary walked up to Nightwing, smiling under his mask.

Deathstroke then punched Nightwing hard in the gut, waking him from unconscious. Nightwing lurched forward, his breath getting caught in his throat as Deathstroke leaned towards his ear.

"You will be my apprentice again. Even if I have to break you in order to make it happen."

Nightwing growled at Deathstroke before spitting at the mercenary's mask.

Deathstroke sighed. He punched Nightwing harder, causing the hero to cough up blood and get stuck further into the wall. Nightwing lost consciousness shorty after.

The mercenary took this as an opportunity to retrieve a syringe filled with a bright blue liquid out his belt and injected the contents into Nightwing's neck.

Deathstroke noticed blood start to seep through the lower left side of Nightwing's uniform (where he had earlier shot the hero) before he turned and picked up the Kryptonite off the floor, placing it back in his belt as he made his way back to the hero stuck in the wall. The mercenary smirked as he picked up the limp hero, throwing the ebony over his shoulder as he made his way back to the window.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: I AM NOT ABANDONING MY OTHER STORY! I just have writers block with where to go from now on so Pm me some ideas!**

**This is a semi au thing. Because Nightwing was taken by Deathstroke, he never came up with the plan to have Kaldur pretend to be a traitor or for Artemis to be "killed" by Kaldur thus the events leading to Wally's "death" (I refuse to believe he died and instead choose to believe he was sent into another dimension) never occurred. So Kaldur is the team's leader again (he stepped down to let Nightwing take the role until said hero was hero-napped) and Richard is now 19. Now all that's out of the way…**

**I don't own Young Justice. If I did, it wouldn't have been cancelled, Wally would still be in the right dimension (****L****) and there would be a lot more Nightwing amazingness. Ok to the story!**

Chapter two: found him!

**Mount Justice**

**Friday 16****th**** January 2015**

**15:00 (3pm)**

"Twelve months and four days. Over a year. That's how long it's been since Deathstroke took Nightwing. All the League, minus Batman think he's dead. I don't know what to believe anymore…" Wally said sadly as he and Artemis made their way towards the mission room dressed in their hero attire.

"I don't think anyone knows what to believe anymore." Artemis replied solemnly as the two joined the rest of their team who were standing in front of a monitor that had Batman's face on it.

Batman glared at the two late heroes but continued talking. "As I was just informing the team, you have a mission… There have been reports of a new mercenary going by the name of Renegade. We've known about his existence for three months. That's about all we know about him so be cautious.

"We believe he will be attempting to steal some new technology from Wayne Tech. This is strictly a covert mission. You are to wait for Renegade at Wayne Tech and subdue him. Do not engage recklessly. Batman out." With that, the screen once again returned to black.

"Renegade…. Where have I heard that before?" mumbled Connor to himself, feeling like he had forgotten something important. "Superboy? Hurry up, we're leaving." Miss Martian said waiting just in front of the bioship. Superboy nodded and walked inside.

Renegade waited silently in Wayne Tech for the Young Justice team to come and 'stop' him.

_"__Remember Renegade. Leave no survivors. They are a test. Do not converse, kill." _Deathstroke's voice crackled to life in the young man's ear.

"Yes sir" was all Renegade answered with. He had learned not to speak unless absolutely necessary in the time he had spent with Slade.

_"__Oh and Renegade?" _

"Sir?"

_"__Do not fail me again." _

"Yes sir." Renegade let out a small breath he hadn't realised he was holding after hearing the click that indicated the com link was down.

That's when he heard numerous footsteps approaching his position. Deathstroke's apprentice shifted his position slightly for a better view.

Kid Flash ran in first followed after by Aqualad, Artemis, Miss Martian, Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, Superboy, Lagoon Boy and Robin.

"By Neptune's beard! Where is he? We've searched the entire building and we can't find him anywhere!" Lagoon Boy threw his arms up in the air in frustration as he complained.

"Patience, Lagoon Boy, is impeccable in this line of work" Aqualad answered with his calm voice. Renegade couldn't agree more, he had been waiting for the he heroes for over half an hour.

It was then that Renegade chose to make his move.

The ebony silently jumped down from his perch and landed in the shadows.

"Guys! We have company…" Connor warned staring at where Renegade landed in the shadows. Renegade stepped forward into the light.

The team studied the figure in front of them.

The figure wore black suit (like Nightwing's but without the blue bird over his chest) with an "S" on the shoulder, left bicep. He had a black utility belt and a knife holstered around his thigh. The figure also wore a mask like Deathstroke's that hid his face, underneath he wore a Black mask that covered his eyes (basically he does what Red Hood does and wears a mask under his mask). (not that the team knew about his second mask, of course). The figure wore what looked like some sort of modified inhibitor collar.

"Renegade I presume?" The figure nodded at Kid Flashes words.

Miss M's eyes began glowing red before she stated "I know you." The newer members of the team lowered their guard.

Renegade took the opportunity to take to shuriken out his utility belt, holding them between his fingers, before throwing them with deadly accuracy at Kid Flash, Artemis, Miss Martian, Superboy, Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, Lagoon Boy and Robin. All exploded right before they hit their target.

"Not much of a talker is he?" Superboy said, being the first to recover from the surprise. "Agreed. Team, be cautious." Aqualad watched Renegade warily as he took out his water bearers.

The criminal seemed to be studying each one of them, waiting for them to make a move.

Lagoon Boy charged out of the smoke left by the small exploding weapons in his (fighting?) form, letting out an angered yell as he attempted to punch Renegade only to have said criminal dodge out the way, using Lagoon Boy as a spring board, causing the hero to run into a wall.

Renegade then proceeded to run towards the team. He ducked a punch from Superboy only to counter with a kick to said clones jaw. Renegade then moved onto Artemis, dodging her arrows with ease. After a few minutes Renegade was fighting off the entire team.

Blue Beetle was shooting his massive staples at the teen, Artemis fired her arrows, Robin threw his birderrangs, Miss M mentally threw boxes at him as she tried to enter his mind (to no avail), Supes, Lagoon Boy and Beast Boy (who had transformed into a huge gorilla) threw blow after blow while Kid tried to punch him with super speed. Kaldur was waiting for the right opportunity to use his electric current.

Renegade suddenly sprang at Robin. The small hero was then put into a head lock with a blade at his throat.

Everyone stopped attacking Renegade immediately.

Renegade began pressing the knife harder against the hero's throat but suddenly stopped applying pressure. The pressure was only enough to draw blood.

That's when Superboy noticed something. "He's shaking." The Boy of Steel pointed out.

_"__Kill him." _Superboy jumped when he heard the voice through Renegade's com.

Renegade didn't move.

_"__Kill. Him." _The voice continued to egg the black clad teen on.

_"__Renegade. Kill. Him. DO NOT FAIL ME AGAIN BOY! YOU REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME YOU FAILED ME?!" _The last two sentences were so loud every occupant in the room heard it.

Renegade visibly tensed at the man's words. Whoever was giving the orders clearly took the silence as a yes.

_"__THEN KILL HIM!"_ the voice boomed.

"…Yes sir" his voice held no emotion at all. The team thought it unnerving.

"Now!" Aqualad yelled suddenly. Robin nodded before he elbowed Renegade in the face, shattering his mask. Robin quickly flipped away from Renegade, something Nightwing had been teaching him, and glared at the figure.

Only to have his entire world shatter around him.

There, standing before the team, was their missing member. A member most had given up on.

Nightwing.

_"__Kill. Them." _Growled the voice, promising pain if it was ignored.

The white of Renegade's/Nightwing's mask turned into slits as he flipped away from the group and shot a grappling hook for the window he had some in.

"Nightwing! Come back!"

Richard didn't know who said it, but whoever it was, the sound of their voice made his heart ache. It was a voice he hadn't heard in what felt like an eternity. Nonetheless, he continued until he was alone on the roof of Wayne Tech, the rain soaking him immediately.

Renegade took a step forward when suddenly an electrical current was sent surging through his body. The teen gasped and fell to his hands and knees just as his com crackled to life again.

_"__How DARE you undermine me?!"_Deathstroke snarled, causing Renegade panic. He went against orders… he was punished when he went against orders. Severely punished.

Renegade was shaking now. Out of fear or pain he didn't know. The ebony dug his gloved hands into the floor, the electricity refusing to stop along with the pain.

"_After all this time, you still refuse to obey me. Fine, you've always been defiant. But you will learn, one way or another, to be obeisant." _Deathstroke must have increased the volts remotely to Renegade's inhibitor collar because suddenly the pain increased.

Renegade unintentionally let out an antagonized scream as his arms crumpled beneath him. Darkness surrounded him.

-With the Team-

"Nightwing! Come back!" Robin shouted as he watched his older believed to be dead brother disappear out a window, into the raining streets of Gotham.

The entire team just stood there, frozen in shock, for what must have been only a few minutes. The team was brought back to reality by a sudden scream.

"That came from the roof! Let's go!"

The team ran/flew to the roof ready for a fight. Once they got there though, they were surprised to see Ni-Renegade collapse from his hands and knees and land in a puddle.

The team stood there for a few moments before Robin and Kid Flash ran over to the downed teen. a

"N...Nightwing...?"

"Buddy?"

No response.

The two turned towards the rest of the team as they slowly made their way towards their lost member.

Aqualad put a hand on his com. "Aqualad to Watchtower. Come in Watchtower."

_"__This is Flash. What's up Aqualad?" _

The Atlantian looked down at the prone figure on the ground before answering "We found Nightwing."

**AN: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm really excited about the next one I'm writing and hope you are too. **

**Have a nice day/night! Chickenfreak out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**An: Okay guys, sorry for taking so long to get his chapter up! I've been really busy with family stuff (Plus for like half the chapter I didn't know what I wanted to do next)but it' finally up.**

**It's my Christmas gift to you guys!**

**Next chapter may take a while as well as it isn't written yet. Thanks for all the reviews, they really make me feel like this is worth while. This one goes out to you Jaybird and AJ, for harassing me to write instead of doing schoolwork! Also school finished last week but I'm going camping with the family and two very close family friends soon so next chap will take longer than usual. Oh yeah AJ and Jaybird, I've ordered everything so jow we just have to wait for it to arrive! YAY**

**Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you're all having a wonderful day! **

**PS: If anyone********_ever_********needs someone to talk to if when they're having a crappy day, just feeling down etc., just PM me and I'll listen and help in anyway I can! I'm here for ya man!**

_**On to the chapter!**_

**Disclaimer: Haha yeah, I wish. Me No Own :^( way more Nightwing bad-assery if i did.**

Chapter three:

**Watchtower**

**Friday 16****th**** January 2015**

**23:00 (11pm)**

The first thing Renegade noticed was the silence. Next was a bright, almost fluorescent light. The mercenary had to force himself to keep his eyes shut and body relaxed. Finally, he noticed his arms and legs were strapped to a bed and his inhibitor collar was still intact.

Renegade pressed his pinkie and thumb together, triggering the lock pick in his glove. He then proceeded to quickly and effectively unlock his wrist restraints before he did the same to the ones on his ankles.

Now free, Renegade looked around the room. The room itself was a uniform, cement grey interrogation room that had a medical bed pulled into it. A one way mirror was situated on the far side of the room, opposite the bed, with a door next to it. No doubt, he was being watched.

After a few moments Batman walked into the room with Martian Manhunter in tow.

"Nightwing, what happened?" Asked Martian Manhunter, worry filling his voice.

Renegade stared right through the hero, answering with "Classified."

Both Martian Manhunter and Batman were surprised by how monotone and empty the ebony's voice was. The teen held no emotion in his voice or on his face. It seemed like he no longer knew how to show emotion what so ever.

"Where were you?"

"Classified."

"…Okay then…Who are you working for?"

"Classified."

"Why do you wear an inhibitor collar?"

"…Classified."

This went on for over an hour. Batman was silent the entire time, just watching his first protégé.

"Nightwing, please. We're trying to help you." Pleaded Martian Manhunter, growing more and more concerned.

Renegade was silent for several minutes before answering, still monotone but laced with a tiny hint of anger, "Nightwing's dead." Renegade's gaze shifted to Batman before once again staring blankly ahead, his face still showing no emotion. "He died four months ago. Waiting for _him._"

Martian Manhunter stood flabbergasted while the white of Batman's mask turned into slits. The latter silently walked in front of his former protégé where he proceeded to glare eye level with Renegade, who stared at the caped crusader with a blank expression on his face.

"I don't believe that." And with that, Batman turned and left the interrogation room, Martian Manhunter following him out, leaving Renegade alone in the silence.

Renegade stared at the one way mirror for two hours. He knew he was being watched via a security camera in the corner of the room (to the right of the one way mirror) but he didn't care. When was the last time he cared about anything though?

A sudden voice in his com made the ebony's blood run cold. "_Having fun, __**apprentice**__?"_

Renegade didn't answer, he was too busy trying to stop trembling.

"_What made you think you could defy my orders?" _Deathstroke growled making the colour leave Renegade's face.

"_I ASKED YOU A QUESTION BOY!" _

Renegade remained silent. He couldn't tell his master he didn't have it in him to lose another brother. And being the cause of losing him…

Deathstroke growled in the ebony's ear as the electricity suddenly spiked, leaving Renegade gasping for breath.

As the electricity intensified, Renegade felt the collar begin to release tiny needles that, with the push of a button, injects a serum that mimics the feeling of having your insides be eaten away at by acid along with actually injecting you with a small amount of normal acid (one of the modifications Deathstroke made). He began frantically clawing at the collar in an attempt to get it off.

"**_Perhaps_**_ it would have been wise to obey me. Such a shame, Psimon did say the process may not be permanent… __**Goodbye, Renegade**__." _

That's when Deathstroke must have pushed the button for the serum on the inhibitor collar controls because the next thing Renegade knew, he had curled into himself and was screaming out in blinding pain as he gripped his inhibitor collar.

He wished this time he would be granted the mercy of unconscious.

-With the Justice League-

"So basically, he was being punished for not killing Robin?" Flash asked, trying to sum up what Batman had just told them.

"Correct." Batman said matter-of-factly, not taking his eyes off the monitor in front of him, which was replaying the footage from the mission thanks to a camera inside of Robin's mask, as he typed in various codes into the Watchtower's main computer.

Superman was about to add his input but stopped short when he heard something.

"Clark? What is it?" asked Black Canary in concern.

"I hear something…" Superman responded.

Suddenly, Batman pushed passed the two heroes and sprinted towards the interrogation room.

"Batman, what is the matter?" Martian Manhunter said worryingly when he felt a sudden surge of pain. The Martian glanced up at one of the monitors and saw Renegade curled in on himself on the floor, clutching his inhibitor collar with his mouth open, screaming.

The hero then followed Batman towards where Renegade was. The other heroes looked at each other in confusion before following cautiously.

-Back to Renegade-

Renegade was forcing himself to breathe at this point. No matter how painful it got, he had to keep breathing.

In the back off his mind he registered the sound of a door opening and feet rushing over to him.

Renegade tugged on the collar again, still trying to remove it. He was forced to stop however, when he hacked up blood.

"_Nightwing, what is wrong? How can we help?" _The sudden voice in his made him panic.

_Nononononononono! Not again!_ Renegade temporarily blocked out the pain, trying to escape from the pain that would surely come.

The ebony kicked whoever was standing over him and flipped away from them, towards the door.

His world was spinning and blurry but he could make out two figures. One, a black blob, was reeling from his kick while the other, green blobby figure, was helping the first to its feet.

Renegade took the opportunity to bolt out the door where more several***** other figures were making their way towards the interrogation room.

A red one, with yellow and white in the centre, yelled something before it tried to grab him. Renegade dodged right before he released a spinning heel kick to the side of the figures head.

Next, another green figure attempts to shoot him with an arrow, but Renegade simply jumpers over the figures head and kicks the back of its knees, making the figure collapse onto the ground.

A blue and red figure then throws to punch him, but Renegade dodged and used the figure's head as a spring board to jump behind a black and yellow figure.

The black and yellow figure tries to turns and attempts to punch him, but Renegade merely caught the fist and forced it behind the figure's back. He then sweeps his legs under the figure's own before sprinting, with a stupendous amount of pain, towards the zeta tubes.

White light surrounded him.

"Nightwing B01"


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four: right in da feels.

**AN: hi guys! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile...**

**While I was away in Port Willunga ADELAIDE, South Australia, a massive bush fire started and nearly burned down my house. My mum got a text telling us to be ready to evacuate. Luckily for me, there was a wind change and it headed off into another direction, but instead of the fire burning my house, it has now wiped houses in Tea Tree Gully out. It was a real scare because I couldn't get in contact to my friends and other family members and some beloved members of the family were at my house at the time, but thankfully everyone is safe. My heart goes out to those affected by this horrible event and wish them all the best. =) 3 **

**Okay… that was a downer so…**

**Sorry if L'gann isn't that likable in this fanfic but he is probably my least favourite member of YJ.**

**I hope every one of you guys is safe and sound wherever you are in the world! Please enjoy this chapter. Oh and thank you all so much for the reviews, likes and favourites etc. I really appreciate them. **

**To TheAsterousAuther: Thank you! I had a great time besides the fire scare but all is well. **

-With the team-

**Mount Justice **

**Saturday 17****th**** January **

**00:30 (12:30am)**

After the mission debriefing, the team who went on the mission all walked into the rec room and sat in silence. After about an hour Artemis finally broke the silence.

"So are we not going to take about what's going on or what…?"

Wally, as the entire team were now in their civvies, squeezed his girlfriend's hand tighter.

"By Neptune's Beard! What's there to talk about? He betrayed us!" shouted L'gann, anger dripping from his voice.

"Di-Nightwing isn't like that!" Robin (because no one but Wally and Roy knew his secret ID) growled.

Every occupant of the room jumped at the usually calm and calculating hero's outburst.

"Oh yeah? How would you know, you're one of the youngest members on this team!" retorted L'gann, throwing his arms up in the air to exaggerate his point.

"Because he's my adopted brother, okay?!" Robin was almost screaming at this point. L'gann backed down from the seething teen as the room went quiet.

-With Renegade-

"Recognised Nightwing B0-1. Warning: Unknown chemical mix detected."

Renegade staggered out the Zeta Tubes, forcing his lungs to take in air.

_Keep breathing. Keep moving. Ignore the pain. He's gone. Psimon's gone. Breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Calm down. Remember your training..._

His mind was racing and the world began to blur as the adrenaline left his system. Once again his body was burning with pain.

Suddenly, Renegade's legs gave way under him causing him to fall to his hands and knees. The mercenary then coughed up some more blood.

Renegade's trained ears abruptly picked up the sound of footsteps rushing towards him.

The ebony mentally cursed as he aimed his grappling hook into the rafters. Renegade barley managed to stay silent as the movement sent another rush of pain streaming through his system.

Dick managed to make his way into the gym through the rafters and vents before his body almost gave out, causing him to cling onto the rafters as he held back a scream as more of the acid mix was injected into his bloodstream. (**AN: The collar was designed so it could be used for punishment, which would only inject small amounts over a long period of time, or to 'dispose' of Renegade should he either be deemed unnecessary, captured or useless, which would inject more of the acid mix, more frequently as time passed, slowly killing the victim. Basically, Deathstroke made the collar do the latter. Now that that's all explained…**)

Somehow, Renegade managed to pull himself onto the rafter, gasping for air as it became harder and more painful to breathe.

-With the team-

_L'gann backed down from the seething teen as the room went quiet. _

After a moment, Black Canary's voice sounded through the team's com links.

"-_Team? Come in team! This is an emergency!" the heroine's voice was panicked and _

Aqualad was the first to snap out of surprise/shock. "…This is Aqualad. What is the emergency Black Canary?"

_"__Nightw-Renegade escaped from the Watchtower and is somewhere in the cave…"_ Black Canary seemed to be holding something back, but Aqualad knew whatever it was, the team would be role once their old friend was found.

"Understood we will locate and subdue him." He wasn't only talking to Black Canary, but giving the team instructions.

Aqualad once again took on burden of leading.

"Team." The Atlantian said, gaining the team's attention.

"Gear up. We have a mission."

Soon the team were all in costume and standing in front of Aqualad, waiting for instructions.

"As you all heard Black Canary, we are to locate and subdue Renegade. Split into groups. Kid Flash, Artemis, Superboy, Miss Martian and I will be Alpha group, whereas Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, Lagoon Boy and Robin are the Beta group. Alpha team will check the Recreation room, kitchen, briefing room, Zeta Tubes and gym while Beta team check the remaining rooms in the cave. Contact the other group through either the mind link or com link when Renegade is found."

The other members of the team nodded before the groups separated into their teams and moved off to search.

-Alpha Team-

Alpha team's hearts sank when Superboy saw blood splattered around in front of the Zeta Tubes.

"Anything?" KF asked Miss M as she mentally scanned the area for their lost member.

"Nothing. I've always had trouble picking up Nightwing's mind even whilst he was Robin but now it's as if he simply isn't there." Miss M said as her eyes slowly changed back to their regular colour.

"Superboy?" Artemis asked, beating her boyfriend to it.

Superboy was standing perfectly still with a concentrated expression on his face.

"Sshh."

The team went silent.

"It sounds like… something coming from the Gym…"

"Beta Team? We believe Renegade is in the Gym." Aqualad said through both the com and mind link.

_"__We're on our way." _Robin answered shortly, determination clear in his voice.

-Beta Team-

Beta team had checked almost every room they were asked beside the bedrooms, which was their current destination.

They all walked in silence, the air heavy. Robin seemed to be radiating anger so the others gave him a little space, letting the young hero walk in the lead.

"Dude, you should apologise." Beast Boy whispered to Lagoon Boy, falling back a bit. Blue Beetle nodded in agreement.

Sighing, Lagoon Boy nodded before catching up with Robin.

"Robin? Um… how do I say this?" The Atlantian rubbed the back of his gills.

"…Yes?" Robin answered after a moment of silence.

"I.. uh… I'm sorry. I was… I was angry and… I shouldn't have said that about Nightwing…"

Robin stopped in front of Nightwing's old room.

"…Are you just saying that because you found out he's my adopted brother or do you actually mean it?" Robin's voice was so quiet, almost a whisper. The little bird then input the code to his brother's room causing the door to silently slide open.

Nightwing's room at the cave was… plain to say the least.

Inside, the walls were painted a light blue while the floor was a dark blue carpet. There was a single bed with a simple blue quilt and white sheets. Next to it was a wooden wardrobe. Opposite the door, on the far side of the room, was a desk. The desk covered in files, pencils, documents and random bits of machinery.

The only personal belonging in the room was a picture of Nightwing, Robin, who didn't look like the one standing in the room, and a smaller, ebony haired younger boy with a domino mask over his eyes. Batman was standing behind the three.

Nightwing and batman were smirking, the unfamiliar Robin was grinning and had given the younger boy, who had a massive smile on his face, 'bunny ears'. All seemed happy. The photo was noticeably old as the frame was faded and the picture was crumpled slightly.

Robin walked straight towards the picture, picked it up and stared at it. Lagoon Boy only entered when Blue Beetle and Beast Boy had caught up.

"So… this is… was Nightwing's room?" Blue Beetle said as he entered, examining the room.

Beast Boy walked up behind Robin and looked at the picture in the bird's hand.

"Who are they?" the younger hero asked curiously pointing to the young boy and the 'strange' Robin.

Robin was quiet for a bit before answering "That's the second Robin, and me."

"I thought you were the second Robin?" Lagoon Boy questioned.

"I'm the third. My predecessor was killed… by the Joker. It was a dark few years. Nightwing took it the hardest. He blamed himself for not getting there fast enough… (**In this, Bruce wasn't the one to try to save and find then Jason, Dick was**.) He probably still blames himself for not saving them too…"

"Them?" all three other heroes were now focusing intensely on their mysterious teammate.

"..." Robin went silent as he put the picture back where it was on the desk.

"_Beta Team? We believe Renegade is in the Gym._" Aqualad said through both the com and mind link.

_"_We're on our way._" _Robin answered shortly, determination clear in his voice.

The four heroes then ran towards the gym, meeting team Alpha along the way.

-teams point of view-

**Training room/ gym**

**Saturday 17****th**** January **

**01:45 (1:45am)**

"What do you mean he's injured?" Robin asked, his trained eyes scanning the room.

"When we checked the Zeta Tubes, a large amount of blood had been hacked up on the floor" answered Aqualad, looking over at Miss Martian, who looked incredibly pale and exhausted suddenly.

"Miss Martian?" the team's leader said, his voice full of concern.

"I'm fine… but wherever Renegade is… he isn't…" the Martian gasped out.

-Renegade's point of view-

Renegade was breathing as quietly as he could, trying not to alert the team of his whereabouts (he was watching them quietly from the rafters in the corner of the gym) but it was proving to be more and more of a challenge as the acid circulated around his body.

Suddenly, as the collar injected another large amount of acid mix, Renegade screamed out in pain as he lost consciousness, his limp body beginning to fall from the rafters.

-No point of view-

A sudden scream caused all the heroes attention to snap towards the far corner of the gym.

A limp figure fell from the shadows above for a second before Miss Martian's eyes were glowing green and she was using her powers to catch the figure. She slowly lowered the figure onto the ground as she and the team approached.

"Nightwing!"

As the heroes approached they took in their former member's appearance.

Renegade was deathly pale as blood slowly trickled out the corner of his slightly parted mouth. His hair was covering his masked eyes and his chest was hardly moving.

Miss Martian was the first to realise something was terribly wrong so she took the opportunity to enter Renegades mind… only to be pushed out not a second later.

"The collar!" she gasped in horror.

Aqualad nodded and attempted to break the collar off. The only thing that happened was a large electrical charge surged through Renegade and Aqualad, making the latter yelp in surprise and pain and Renegade's chest to stop rising and falling.

"Crap!" the Atlantian shouted as he got over his shock and finally pulled the collar off.

The team then saw Renegade's chest wasn't moving.

Aqualad cursed in Atlantian before he put his hands on Renegade's chest and electrocuted him, trying to recreate a make shift defibrillator.

Nothing happened.

Aqualad frowned before trying again, putting more power into the shock. This time, Renegade's back arched almost inhumanly as a silent scream escaped his mouth. His chest rose and fell unevenly but at least it was rising and falling.

Aqualad let out a sigh of relief before he stated "Someone get the bed bay ready."

Robin nodded and ran off, doing as instructed.

"What happened to him while he's been gone?" Beast Boy asked, watching as Aqualad carefully picked up Renegade and made his way to the med bay.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out." Miss Martian said firmly, walking after Aqualad.


End file.
